CONSEQUENCES Fleetway
by WhisperElmwood
Summary: Sequel to Adaption - Amy Rose realises Dr.Bowen, Robotniks' successor, may return any day, but no-one, including Sonic, wants to believe her.
1. Prologue

UNTITLED SEQUEL  
  
Six months had passed since anyone last saw Dr.Bowen, and the people of Mobius had once again begun to get complacent. Sonic and the team had had nothing better to do than round up Bowen's people, placing them in prison, and help the Neo-Borgs' return to normalcy.  
  
Amy and Tail's had had the nano removed from their bodies, along with the emerald shards, returning them both to their former selves, albeit with scars and a slight discolouration to the fur where the nano had left its mark, and whenever either of them felt a particularly strong emotion, their eyes sparkled slightly green.  
  
But Amy was relieved, her mind was no longer open to the thoughts of the planet, (though, rather distressingly, she was redeveloping that particular talent), and she was back to catching fleeting thoughts from people here and there, sharing their emotions when they were strong, knowing where they were at all times and being able to communicate mind to mind - though none of these talents were near as powerful as they had been while she was sharing her body with the nano.  
  
Porker and Teckno had done amasingly well, (working from the secret location Porker had retreated to after Bowens violation of his mind), they had not only returned Amy and Tails to thier former selves, but they had also done their best with the rest of the Neos', most now had returned home to the families that missed them. Unfortunately, a few had permanent nano damage or had lost their entire families to Bowen or Robotnik before him and they stayed together in homes let to them by villagers and townspeople.  
  
The only thing still bugging Amy was Bowens' disappearance.  
  
The last thing she remembered was sitting chained to a bed, wearing nothing more than a near see through slip, an image from his mind that held her trapped, leaving her physical body to suffocate and die, before waking up in the new safe house.  
  
Sonic and Tails had told her, and the others, since, that Bowen had holed himself up in that strange new zone, and that Melissa Sampson had deflected, joining the man she confessed she had loved all along.  
  
This information did little to relieve her worries however, as she remembered all to well that the zone had a symbiotic presence that had latched onto Bowen the instant he set foot there, quickly learning how to use it to his advantage. At one point he had even used the very ground to imprison both Sonic and herself.  
  
She worried, now, that Bowen would one day turn up more powerful than ever, his telepathic ability completely out ranking her own with the help of the shard of the master chaos emerald that he had bonded with.  
  
With an entire zone on his side as well as Melissa and her nano enhancements, it would be fatal for them to turn up now, before anyone was prepared, before she had the chance to make the others see the problem.  
  
But Sonic continued his unwavering belief that they wouldn't turn up anytime soon, telling all and sundry to stop bothering him about it. Amy, of course, knew he was worrying about it under the fronts he always put forth.  
  
But she didn't mention anything about it. Espescially now that he was slowly coming to the conclusion that she wasn't actually as uncanny as he'd thought,over the months they had started getting closer, slowly returning to how they had been before Jonnys' death two and a half years ago.  
  
But now they had something more, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, something akin to a dependence upon each other, especially now that Tekno and Porker were gone, with little chance of them returning in the near future.  
  
Lemme aloooone oo;  
  
I'm working on it o0; and for some reason it still doesn't read quite right oo;  
  
*kix what little writing talent she has and it kurls up in a ball on her head*..  
  
To Be Continued .. 


	2. Chapter 01

UNTITLED - sequel  
  
Amy stirred in her sleep, stretched slightly and rolled over, getting comfortable again.  
  
She slept fitfully most nights since Dr. Bowen and the nano tech that had ravaged Tails and herself, but tonight she was sleeping well. Her dreams so far had been quiet, mostly memories of a happier time before Robotnik had turned up.  
  
She frowned in her sleep as the dreams began to change.  
  
Soon she was no longer dreaming of the past, but was once again walking through mist, a dream she had not had for a long while. She recognised the feelings the engulfed her, but no longer physically reacted to them.  
  
She looked to her left and saw a strange, huge form, wrapped tightly in a torn and ragged cloak. Walking as if its body was no longer under its own control, the mists swirling about it, seething.  
  
She looked up and an image floated above her in the mist. Tails and Tekno, flying as fast as they could together, both looking the worst for wear. She glanced to her right and saw Sonic, dear Sonic, screaming for help but expecting none.  
  
She moved towards the image, but found herself walking through it and looking at another image, worse than the last. She saw herself cradling Sonics' limp body to herself, tears streaking down her face.  
  
Feeling something akin to sadness from her right, she turned and saw a dark form in the mist. At first she thought it to be Sonic, but things were different, too different to be the one she had known for so long.  
  
It beckoned to her, a glint of gold showing at the wrist, and she moved forward, the mists swirling around her.  
  
A few steps closer and she began to feel fear emanating from the figure calling to her, but every step she took, it receded, she was loosing it, so she ran.  
  
With a cry of anguish, she bumped into it and looked up into deep red eyes, full of fear and sadness.  
  
She cried out and awoke.  
  
She lay, staring at the wall across from her, trying to catch her breath, her heart racing. She must have screamed aloud as well as in her sleep as her throat ached slightly in that familiar way it always did after screaming.  
  
She sat up and looked around, running a hand over her quills, the attempt to settle them giving away the feelings of unease stirring within her.  
  
"Bowen's back." She whispered to the darkness.  
  
* * * *  
  
The large figure swathed head to foot in a grubby, torn and patched cloak moved a few more steps nearer, looking cautiously around; making sure no one was around. Though he would have been surprised if anyone had been, for no living creature came this far anymore, knowing that if they did, they were sure never to return.  
  
What the hell he was doing here, he wasn't entirely sure, he just seemed drawn to the place, as if his old self was willing him to start again, and this place held the key.  
  
He snorted at himself, at the stupid thought of starting over.  
  
But it wasn't such a strange thought, not really, in the past he had been great, people had respected him, as well as feared him, and over the past two and a half years he had missed that.  
  
He had missed the way people spoke his name in fear, spitting over their shoulders and crossing themselves, being hushed by those around them.  
  
Remembering those times always gave him a sullen feeling of regret in the pit of his stomach; making him wish he had never given up, never let himself fall into the trap of despair, letting that damn hedgehog get to him.  
  
His instincts told him that if he kept going the way he was, he would end up dead, as the people believed him to be. His instincts told him he needed to stay alive, if only to prove that damn hedgehog wrong.  
  
He took another step and lost his footing.  
  
With an undignified yelp he slithered down the muddy slope, landing in a heap of muddy robes and scarlet rage near the base, catching against a tree.  
  
For a moment he lay there, pissed off with himself and the very ground he lay upon, then he crawled to his knees, wiping mud out of his eyes, brushing dirt and stray strands of grass from his clothing.  
  
"Hello Old Man."  
  
He looked up, not recognising the voice, not realising in fact, that anyone had been near.  
  
"You, Old Man, are supposed to be dead. But no matter. Now that you are here, I suppose we must find out why. Get up."  
  
He did, staring at the mouse standing before him, arms crossed, a look of simple curiosity on his face. Something glinted at his chest, something green and impossibly bright.  
  
As he rose to his feet, wrapping the patched and torn cloak about him, the mouse looked up at him for a moment then turned and started walking further down the slope. "Follow me."  
  
He found it was a command his body could not disobey, he walked after the mouse without even knowing why, it seemed there was another voice in his head, taking total control. He tried to resist for a moment, his will being quite strong in the old days, but it served only to give him a headache he rather wished he didn't have.  
  
The two figures, one large, one small, disappeared a moment later into the mists at the very base of the hill.  
  
* * * *  
  
"Any luck finding them yet?"  
  
Tails leant back in his office chair, watching Teknos face on the screen in front of him. She and Porker were still in hiding, and as far as he could tell, they wouldn't be returning any time soon, it seemed Porker was damaged beyond any outside help by his encounter with Bowen.  
  
Tekno shook her head, "No, we've had little to no success in trying to infiltrate that zone. I'm guessing Bowen is using the emerald shards to create some form of static around the entire place."  
  
Tails nodded, not surprised. "All my cameras can get from the area - before they disengage anyway - is a thick white mist. I get that from any angle I try"  
  
"Porker thinks the mist may be infused with Chaos energy - though exactly how, he's still working on."  
  
Tails nodded again. "Keep up the work then, and I'll ring again soon. Say hi to Porker for me."  
  
Tekno smiled and nodded, "See you then." The screen went dead.  
  
Tails at for a moment, worrying slightly about what it all meant, then stood up, deciding he needed to talk to someone.  
  
He thought maybe sonic, but every time anyone mentioned Bowen to him, he seemed to close down and not pay attention, and within minutes he always came up with an excuse to get out of the area.  
  
For a whole six months now, he'd been in denial over the whole situation.  
  
Amy then? He shook his head, there was no need to worry her any more over the Bowen thing, she was already pent up about it all, she'd started having prophetic dreams again, the latest one had been bad as far as he could tell, she had woken up screaming - which had woken him up, as he lived in the next room.  
  
Knuckles certainly wouldn't want to talk about it, he was just so morose these days, spending nearly every hour in the makeshift emerald chamber, with what remained of them. He had them all in cold storage these days, but the Master Emerald, it still had two bits missing, so he was constantly in a bad mood.  
  
All that left then was Rouge, and she was slightly unnerving.  
  
He reached her door and knocked on it. 


	3. Chapter 02

CHAPTER 02  
  
There was a muffled 'come in' from somewhere in the recesses of Rouges room as Tails knocked.  
  
He opened the door and peeked round - the room was a mess, it actually looked rather a lot like Porker's old room. There were bits of computers, what looked like junk metal - but probably wasn't - piles of wire, old keyboards - in fact, pretty much anything to do with computering or general intelligence, was littering the room.  
  
He took a step in and heard a soft clicking - then Rouges voice rang out from behind a large stack of boxes and monitors, "Oh, hey Tails!"  
  
He always found it slightly unnerving the way she could do that, but then, she was a bat, and he supposed they could all do it.  
  
"Hey Rouge - you got a moment?"  
  
Her head popped up over the top of the pile - she grinned, "Sure kid, whatcha want?"  
  
He closed the door behind him and moved further into the room - looking cautiously around so as not to stand on anything. He came to the conclusion that her room was iworse/i than Porker's had ever been.  
  
She'd disappeared again, he moved over and looked round the pile. She appeared to be looking for something. After a moment she found it and with a flourish stood up with a large happy smile on her face.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
She flounced past him and sat down at a large console - connecting the tiny object she'd found into the back of the monitor somewhere. "I'm helping Porker and Tekno - we're working on breaking through that bloody mist and seeing what Bowen's up to."  
  
Tails moved to stand behind her and watched as she fiddled around behind the monitor, "Yeah, kinda why I'm here. I just need to talk to someone. Sonic wont listen, Amy gets too worked up, and Tekno and Porker aren't around."  
  
He touched a gloved hand to the scar on his chest - now covered in a light downy fur - where the emerald shard had been embedded only months before, absently running a couple of fingers over the almost hidden reminder of the terrible few months he spent trapped in a body that never once felt like his due to Bowens sick experiments.  
  
Rouge looked up at him distractedly, noting his discomfiture, then finished fiddling around behind the monitor and sat back, turning it on.  
  
"Ha! Finally got the thing sorted." She glanced at Tails, "So. what was it you wanted to talk about?"  
  
She wasn't very good at chummy talking, especially with someone so much younger than herself - even if Tails iwas/i on the same intellectual level.  
  
She was just a little uncomfortable, and the thought of being the only one he could talk to at the moment didn't exactly help - What must he think of her if he only talked to her because the others were either in denial or too pent up?  
  
He nibbled his bottom lip for a moment, "Well - I'm just a little worried about everything , mostly where it concerns Bowen."  
  
Rouge nodded , "That's understandable, after what he did to you." she started typing, a frown crossing her face as she read the input from cameras around the zone Bowen had taken over.  
  
"Yeah.Rouge?"  
  
She looked up again.  
  
"Maybe I should come back later?"  
  
She looked back at the screen - the frown deepening. ".You sure?"  
  
Tails nodded and carefully made his way back to her door, closing it quietly behind him.  
  
He leant his forehead against the wood for a moment, squeezing his eyes shut, before standing straight and walking away, fists clenched by his sides.  
  
* * * *  
  
The large cloaked figure screamed in pain and slumped limply to the ground, gripping the cloth of his hood tightly in trembling hands, his eyes screwed shut.  
  
Within the swathes of old and tattered cloth, he curled into a foetal position, trying to will the invader out of his mind, trying to stop the pain wracking his body.  
  
"Oh, do stop trying so hard Old man, nothing works, and the more you try, the more pain I have to inflict."  
  
Bowen's voice sounded bored, as if there were better things he could be doing, but just for now, he ihad/i to do this.  
  
"Big, vicious circle really."  
  
He managed to croak out what sounded like a defiant 'never' before Bowen forced his way further into his mind.  
  
He screwed his eyes shut in pain.  
  
Bowen had been trying to find a way into his mind for over an hour, but many years before, he had spent some time on creating barriers to stop such invasions.  
  
They were strong, and had never before needed any conscious effort to keep firm, but against this constant barrage of pain and mental battering, they were slowly beginning to crumble, very soon, his mind would lie open for his tormentor to read at will.  
  
But he refused to give in and let it happen without a fight.  
  
He was not the type to just lie there and take it, he would do everything he could to stop this. maniac, from getting what he wanted, even if it meant dieing in the process.  
  
He found himself wondering ruefully why his instincts had led him to this place, this creature. He had thought that by coming here, maybe he would once again reclaim his throne, but now, he bitterly regretted the idea.  
  
Crying out in abject terror, he felt the walls collapse within his mind and Bowens' mind roamed within his own.  
  
* * * *  
  
He was standing in. nothingness, there wasn't even really a floor, he was just standing.  
  
Something moved to his left, and he turned. Bowen was walking towards him, a large smile on his face.  
  
"Well, that was remarkably easier than I thought it would be."  
  
Bowen stopped a few feet from him and cocked his head to one side, "Now, would you like to give me the grand tour, or shall I just wander aimlessly around wherever I will?"  
  
Some of his arrogance and superiority returned, they were in his mind, on his terms now, and Bowen was the invader.  
  
"Oh come now, do you really think that just because iI am in iyour/i mind, that you will be able to do anything about it?" Bowen laughed heartily, and suddenly they were both standing in his old throne room.  
  
"Ooh goody, memories, I just love sifting through those."  
  
And they were moving through them, fast, he only managed to catch a few, his assistant quitting, his months of depression, Chaos, Brutus, the Death Egg, Metalix, his first Badnik creations, waking in that laboratory, not knowing who or where he was for one, short, agonising moment.  
  
The Hedgehog.  
  
And further.  
  
Into memories he hadn't even known he possessed.  
  
Bowen stopped.  
  
They were standing in the same laboratory where he had first awoken, but things were different.  
  
For one, it was neat and tidy. It was before the explosion he dimly remembered.  
  
There were two other figures in the room, a gangly man in a white lab coat, and a brown hedgehog in some kind of wheel. They both looked happy, content and relaxed.  
  
There was something familiar about the rodent.  
  
"Now, isn't bthis/b something to tell the grandkids? If you had any of course."  
  
Bowen grinned to himself, he obviously thought himself rather funny.  
  
"Is it me, or this our arch nemesis? Looking rather young and ibrown/i isn't he? Certainly a turn up for the books!"  
  
He just stood there, looking at the two figures as Bowen walked around, looking at the laboratory with great interest.  
  
How did he have the memories of another man? It wasn't possible.  
  
So how come he was standing here? If it was another mans memory, then he surely wouldn't be.  
  
Bowen leaned against one of the consoles, looking closely at the expression on the gangly mans still, frozen, face.  
  
"There certainly is a pronounced resemblance between the old you, and the new." Bowen looked him up and down, "Though, of course, you put on an awful lot of weight."  
  
Bowen laughed again and stood, "Shall we take a closer look at what you remember to be in these things?" He prodded a button on the console and the screen flashed to life, though the rest of the memory stayed as it was, still and silent.  
  
Bowen stood for a while, typing, searching, and playing with the screen.  
  
He stood, unable to move, as Bowen sifted not through the console, but through his actual memories of what was on it, until Bowen laughed aloud once more, though this time exultingly.  
  
"Goodness Old Man! You have no idea do you? There is so much locked away in this stuffy old brain of yours that you do not understand!"  
  
Bowen laughed again, and the memory vanished to be replaced with a bright, green landscape.  
  
"Ahhh, there we are, the location of the. experiment."  
  
* * * *  
  
He took another step and lost his footing.  
  
With an undignified yelp he slithered down the muddy slope, landing in a heap of muddy robes and scarlet rage near the base, catching against a tree.  
  
For a moment he lay there, pissed off with himself and the very ground he lay upon, then he crawled to his knees, wiping mud out of his eyes, brushing dirt and stray strands of grass from his clothing.  
  
"Hello, Old Man."  
  
Bowen and a young female squirrel were sitting a few feet away, watching him.  
  
He looked at the two of them, recognising Bowen. He glared at them in undisguised anger as they contemplated him.  
  
Bowen stood, "I have decided."  
  
He looked down at the creature whose neck, only two and a half years ago, he would have snapped without a thought. Now however.  
  
Bowen smiled, "I propose an alliance. You wish Sonic dead, and your throne returned to you, I wish Sonic dead and to rule this godforsaken planet."  
  
He held out a hand, "We can both get what we want, if we work together, you, and the two of us. Robotnik."  
  
Robotnik thought for a moment, then gripped the offered hand.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Um. heh ^^;  
  
I do hope this is all sounding ok. I'm kinda working the story along slower than I did with the first Fic ^^;  
  
Hope nobody minds ^^  
  
Anyway - iTo Be Continued./i  
  
Like.. duh o0  
  
*munches rice cakes and disappears* 


End file.
